


Better Than Words

by lilypea



Series: Ficmas 2014 [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Mistletoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-02
Updated: 2014-12-02
Packaged: 2018-02-27 22:54:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2709674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilypea/pseuds/lilypea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fitz and Simmons enjoy some holiday smooching and this definitely wasn't Skye's idea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better Than Words

“Are you sure this is the right way to go about this?”

“Yeah, it’s Christmas. And you know how he feels about you, right?”

Jemma stared at her hands, trying to hide her obvious blush from her friend.

“Yes.”

“Well then, what could go wrong?” Skye looked across to her and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. 

“Well someone other than Fitz could stand under it, or it could fall on someone, or –"

“Rhetorical question, Simmons.”

“Oh.”

“And besides, you’ll have me there to make sure everything goes smoothly.”

“Thank you, Skye.”

“No problem. I’m always game for helping people get some.”

Jemma glared at her. Skye held her hands up in defence.

“I’m just being honest! Okay, so the mistletoe is hung just behind the holotable. You get Fitz’s attention and I’ll make sure no one’s around to distract you.”

“Okay.” Jemma stood, breathing slowly and surely, brushing her palms on the legs of her jeans as she moved to leave her bunk.

“Go get him.” Skye gave her a nod and a bright smile as she walked past towards where the rest of the team was gathering.

Jemma stopped in the bathroom to check herself before going down to the lab. She’d curled her hair specially and was wearing her favourite festive sweater, deep blue with small snowflakes adorning the wrists. 

Fitz had come clean about his feelings for her after what had, at the time, seemed like the last opportunity. Even their life in the lab brought a few too many dangers to their door. That, however, had been months ago. She’d let the subject slip as the team recovered, hoping that she wouldn’t have to deal with it for some time yet. But she couldn’t seem to shake the memory from her consciousness for any more than an hour at a time.

Things had gone back to normal afterwards, as they almost always did, which meant spending hours in the lab with Fitz, just the two of them. And while she watched him fiddle with alien artefacts with his delicate fingers, tongue poking out between his lips in deep concentration, she couldn’t help but wonder. Maybe she’d been with him for so long that she’d stopped properly noticing him, become blind to what was standing right in front of her? Maybe she was romantically far-sighted?

The more she considered it, the less she thought being that close to her best friend was a bad idea. She knew he loved her, not just from his confession, but from the way he looked at her, the way he was always by her side when she needed him without fail. A couple of months after it had all been brought into the light, she finally realised that it was possible she loved him, too.

She’d confided in Skye after she’d noticed Jemma’s slightly distracted behaviour, and it was nice to get it off her chest and get a second opinion, especially from someone who knew both of them well. Even if that opinion was that she should hang mistletoe from the ceiling and dive right in the deep end. Skye had planned everything so quickly that Jemma had barely even had time to consider the possibilities. It had been so long since Fitz had told her that she was more than just a friend to him that she had to wonder if he wanted the same thing anymore. It was entirely possible that he’d given up in the hope of moving on.

She looked down from her reflection to her watch. There was only fifteen minutes remaining until the Bus Christmas party, and she wanted some time alone with Fitz in private beforehand. Pushing her doubts aside, she quickly made her way down the stairs, knowing that she’d find Fitz waiting for her.

“Oh, Jemma!” Fitz called when he saw her. “I found this deep in the metal of…”

Jemma tuned out Fitz’s commentary of his latest discovery, nodding and agreeing in the right places as she faced what she was about to do, walking over behind the holotable and spotting the green leaves hanging where Skye had left them, placing herself directly under them. Just as she thought, Fitz couldn’t contain his excitement any longer and moved over to show her what he’d been working on.

Jemma gazed at the small ring of metal he held in his hand before shifting her eyes upwards. “Oh, mistletoe,” she stated, just louder than a whisper. She’d have been lying if she’d said she wasn’t the slightest bit terrified.

Fitz joined her in staring up at the bunch hanging over them, now firmly distracted from his work. “How did that get there?”

“I don’t know,” Jemma lied, gripping the table next to her in an effort to stop wringing her hands.

“What happens now?” he asked her, meeting her eyes, his looking curious, wondering where she would take the situation.

“Well,” she muttered, “I think the norm is that two people that stand under the mistletoe together are supposed to kiss.” She held her breath after finishing her explanation, running through all of Fitz’s possible reactions in her head. But before she could see which one he would choose, the heavy clunking of footsteps outside disrupted them.

“Hey Fitz, I need to ask you something.” Ward’s voice seemed to bellow as he strode into the quietness of the lab. Luckily, before Jemma even had to think of a reply, Skye appeared behind him.

“Ward, I think FitzSimmons are a little busy. Come and look at the decorations I’ve made upstairs.”

“But I just had to ask Fitz about –"

“Now, Ward.” Skye took firm hold of his arm and tried her best to drag the large and very heavy man to the stairs.

“Okay, okay! Stop pulling on me! I can walk perfectly fine by myself!”

“Are you sure about that, Robot?”

Their bickering continued until they reached the floor above and Jemma could no longer hear them. Only a minute had passed, but it felt like an hour, which was more than enough time to form doubts.

“You know, Fitz, it’s fine. I totally understand if you don't want anything to do with this. It’s just a silly tradition, I don’t even know where –"

Her voice was cut off as Fitz kissed her, carefully, always being gentle with her. His hands found their way to her cheeks, stroking his thumbs along her soft, warm skin as he slowly moved his mouth against hers. He tasted of peppermint and chocolate, which she guessed was to be expected from someone who snacked as much as he did, especially around Christmastime. He tasted like home.

A small whining sounded in the back of her throat as he parted from her. He locked eyes with her, his pupils clearly dilated. 

“I’ve wanted to do that for a very long time.”

“I know,” she whispered as she leant in again, placing her hands on his back, not wanting to let go now that she’d finally grabbed hold. She kissed from his mouth along his cheek, bringing her head to rest on his shoulder.

“Happy Christmas, Fitz.”

“Happy Christmas, Jemma.”


End file.
